The Whalen Pasture in 1909
After Celia Haynes sold Michael C. Whalen what she thought was her last 660 acres in 1892 and gave him any remaining land that she owned (Book Q, page 376), and after he partitioned the Amos Haynes estate in 1894 (Jackson County probate records), the land holdings of Mary Julia and Michael C. Whalen apparently remained fairly stable for about 15 years, except for intra-family gifts and sales. We have not seriously studied the Whalen family land transactions during this time, although we did browse through the index of deeds listed under their names. The pattern for them seems to be to similar to the preceding generation. They gave land to their children somewhere along the line, but then Michael C. Whalen bought much of it back. He also traded land with James O’B. Young, who had bought the 213⅓ acres in the land that had belonged to Robert S. Haynes. In exchange for his land along the river, Young got an equal amount of land immediately above his land out in the prairie, making his holdings less stretched out.
Mary Julia Haynes Whalen died prematurely at the age of 41 or so in 1908 or before. She died without leaving a will, but we did find the probate papers for her estate in Edna. The inventory stated that she owned only 960 acres of community property; the remainder would have been hers alone. That appears to be accurate, since she and Michael had purchased/inherited a 300 acre tract that had belonged to Thomas S., and had purchased a 660 acre tract from Celia.
After Celia Haynes sold Michael C. Whalen what she thought was her last 660 acres in 1892 and gave him any remaining land that she owned (Book Q, page 376), and after he partitioned the Amos Haynes estate in 1894 (Jackson County probate records), the land holdings of Mary Julia and Michael C. Whalen apparently remained fairly stable for about 15 years, except for intra-family gifts and sales. We have not seriously studied the Whalen family land transactions during this time, although we did browse through the index of deeds listed under their names. The pattern for them seems to be to similar to the preceding generation. They gave land to their children somewhere along the line, but then Michael C. Whalen bought much of it back. He also traded land with James O’B. Young, who had bought the 213⅓ acres in the land that had belonged to Robert S. Haynes. In exchange for his land along the river, Young got an equal amount of land immediately above his land out in the prairie, making his holdings less stretched out.
Mary Julia Haynes Whalen died prematurely at the age of 41 or so in 1908 or before. She died without leaving a will, but we did find the probate papers for her estate in Edna. The inventory stated that she owned only 960 acres of community property; the remainder would have been hers alone. That appears to be accurate, since she and Michael had purchased/inherited a 300 acre tract that had belonged to Thomas S., and had purchased a 660 acre tract from Celia.
The Haynes Place in 1909 - Blanche Owens, Richard Haynes, and the Michael C. Whalen Ranch
Michael Whalen commissioned a survey of all the Whalen holdings in 1909, and the results were recorded in Plat 4B at the Jackson County Clerk’s office, and are shown here. (This is not a copy of Plat 4B, but a map I drew from a copy of Plat 4B, which was too large to include here.) The total area of what Whalen called “the Whalen Pasture” was 2,460 acres, all of which came from the original Haynes place land. I have also labeled the land owned by Blanche Owens (402½ acres) and Richard D. Haynes (367½ acres), which is just above the Whalen land, as well as that of James O’B. Young and George Menefee on the southeast, where Menefee had developed a large ranch. (The teardrop-shaped marker shows the location of the Haynes family cemetery, which was just across the fence from Richard's land, on the land of Michael Whalen.)
Within the Whalen Pasture, the numbers represent the acreage of that particular tract. Notice that of the areas to the southwest of the road, most were never explicitly mentioned in a single deed during the lifetimes of Thomas or Celia Haynes, other than when they were purchased by Thomas. Rather, they all passed from Celia to the Whalens indirectly on July 18, 1892, in a deed that declared: “It being the intention to convey by this deed all the land I now own in the said Ramon Musquiz 5-1/2 league grant.” This deed was recorded in Book Q, page 376. It appears that over 750 acres were given to the Whalens by that statement, which seems strange since Celia sold 660 acres to Michael Whalen in the same deed for $3.12 per acre. Why sell 660 acres and give away over 750 acres? Recall that only 10 months before, on October 29, 1891, in a document recorded in Book Q, page 334, Celia had given Michael Whalen a Power of Attorney to act in her behalf. Did Michael Whalen allow that brief but powerful statement inserted into that deed without Celia’s knowledge of it, rather than warn her that some land was still unaccounted for? We will never know.
Within the Whalen Pasture, the numbers represent the acreage of that particular tract. Notice that of the areas to the southwest of the road, most were never explicitly mentioned in a single deed during the lifetimes of Thomas or Celia Haynes, other than when they were purchased by Thomas. Rather, they all passed from Celia to the Whalens indirectly on July 18, 1892, in a deed that declared: “It being the intention to convey by this deed all the land I now own in the said Ramon Musquiz 5-1/2 league grant.” This deed was recorded in Book Q, page 376. It appears that over 750 acres were given to the Whalens by that statement, which seems strange since Celia sold 660 acres to Michael Whalen in the same deed for $3.12 per acre. Why sell 660 acres and give away over 750 acres? Recall that only 10 months before, on October 29, 1891, in a document recorded in Book Q, page 334, Celia had given Michael Whalen a Power of Attorney to act in her behalf. Did Michael Whalen allow that brief but powerful statement inserted into that deed without Celia’s knowledge of it, rather than warn her that some land was still unaccounted for? We will never know.